


know something now I didn't before

by CreatePeaceFromChaos



Series: Like A Missile On A Mission (I'm A Force That You Will Dread) [27]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Emotional, Empathy, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, M/M, Other, Sentinel/Guide, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, emotional link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29008089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatePeaceFromChaos/pseuds/CreatePeaceFromChaos
Summary: Ever since the Arcobaleno curse had been broken, they had been returning to their proper adult forms in fits and bursts. This one, according to Verde's calculations, would be the last one.Of course it was that one which had to go so vastly wrong.(Part of my KHR Sentinel/Guide AU)
Relationships: Colonnello/Lal Mirch, Fon/Mammon | Viper, Reborn & Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Skull/Verde (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)
Series: Like A Missile On A Mission (I'm A Force That You Will Dread) [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853503
Comments: 12
Kudos: 186





	know something now I didn't before

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Everything Has Changed" by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift

As they had all agreed, the Arcobaleno had taken to meeting in a single location when it was time for a growth spurt to hit, mostly so that Viper could monitor their emotional states, Fon could keep track of their physical states, and Verde could keep a close eye on how their Flames were handling the bursts of three-or-more years’ growth in a single twenty-four-hour period.

This one, according to Verde’s calculations and Checkerface’s promises, was the final one they would experience. From this point on, they would age at a normal rate.

Well, as normal as was possible for overpowered Flame Actives.

Reborn had assumed that this swift ageing period would go much the same as all the others – a brief amount of pain, a few moments of unconsciousness as their bodies grew, and then the need to spend a couple of days adjusting to any physical changes and checking their Flames and emotions were as they should be. There was no reason for any of them to believe that this final ageing block would be any different.

He should have known better than to tempt fate.

There wasn’t the brief span of unconsciousness like there usually was, but instead Reborn felt a sudden _rush_ of emotions that he could not place as his own. Worry, pain, fear, despair, concern, too-much-too-much- _too-much_ —

And then sudden relief as part of it faded, approximately two fifths of the influx vanishing behind what felt like a wall, and he shoved himself up to a seated position – noticing almost as an aside that he’d finally reached his full height and the muscle mass he recalled having – to try and figure out what the _hell_ had just happened.

And his eyes met bright, teary purple, and something resonated between him and Skull. An influx of images, emotions, memories – all of it poured through the sudden link, and Reborn was unable to prevent the way his own emotions surged in response to Skull’s despair, loss, fear and shame.

Protectiveness surged up within him, spilling through the new bond, and Reborn could only stare at the Cloud ~~at his cub~~ while everything he’d kept so well hidden from the youngest of them was dragged to light.

His concern for the young civilian Cloud at the revelation of his relative innocence when they first met.

His fear that any of his many enemies, or any of the others’ enemies, would see the barely-nineteen-year-old as a target they could use unless it was made explicitly clear that he was _theirs_.

His pride as Skull grew stronger and more confident and more skilled.

His worry that a crueller famiglia might coax the Cloud into their service and then use him up like they used so many weaker Clouds over the years.

His hope that Skull would find somewhere he could be safe while the rest of them did their best to continue as they had been so they wouldn’t show the weakness that the curse had caused in them over the years, decades.

His affection for the loud, boisterous Cloud who never seemed to lose his love of life.

His wishes for Skull to be safe and happy and strong and to survive and _live_.

Everything. All of it spilled through the bond that had been lurking, dormant, beneath the curse for all these years. And in return, Reborn was bombarded with the knowledge that their Cloud, their youngest, Reborn’s _cub_ , hadn’t realised _any_ of it.

Skull’s shame at being left behind for being a young civilian.

Skull’s feelings of confinement at his movements being restricted to the presence of the rest of them.

Skull’s pain from the increasingly difficult sparring sessions Reborn and Colonnello put him through.

Skull’s indignation as he was prevented from taking various contracts with the Families that offered them.

Skull’s frustration at having to stick to the laughing stock that were the Caracassa when all he wanted was to be with his actual _family_.

Skull’s growing depression behind his façade as he was constantly pushed away, to the edges, to the outskirts.

Skull’s desperate need to be _wanted_ and _loved_ by those he cared for.

Worst of all, Reborn felt Skull’s absolute _certainty_ that Reborn hated him, when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Reborn had to deny it instantly, though he was so trapped in this strange looping bond that he couldn’t verbalise it.

He could make sure Skull felt it, though. He let it happen, let Skull see and feel how proud and fond Reborn was of him, how he’d broken a little inside each time Skull flinched from him but had forced himself to keep up his mask to make sure Skull remained safe. Let Skull feel just how much Reborn cared for him and wanted him to succeed, to thrive.

And, much to his relief, Reborn felt it when Skull started to truly _believe him_.

A pressure swept through his mind, sudden and smothering and coming from something outside his bond with Skull, and Reborn spiralled into darkness.

Skull almost collapsed when his strange new bond with Reborn was abruptly suppressed, but then Viper was in front of him, their slender hands cradling his cheeks. He realised, belatedly, that he was crying; big salty tears rolled down his cheeks, leaving them sticky and damp.

“He… he doesn’t hate me, Viper,” Skull croaked out, and Viper’s expression softened.

“Of course not, silly cub. He’s always done his best to protect you,” they said softly. “Not that he’d ever show it, the fool, but he forgot he can’t hide from an empath as strong as a Guide,” they added, and Skull laughed. It was still shaky, still watery, but it was real. “Now, you can explore that new bond with your guardian at a later date. I don’t know how much longer Fon can keep Verde from attacking Reborn.” Skull startled, blinked a few times, and then turned to where Fon was bodily pinning Verde to the floor. The usually collected scientist was snarling animalistically, writhing beneath Fon’s hold with clear rage on his face as he tried to claw his way across the floor towards Reborn’s currently unconscious form.

“What the fuck?” Skull blurted. Viper sighed.

“It seems he’s your Sentinel, and he doesn’t have the insight we do into Reborn’s past actions, so he sees it as abuse of his Guide,” Viper told him, leading him across the room. “In a moment, Fon will release him, and I need you to calm him.”

“How do I do that?” Skull asked, still reeling as he tried to process what Viper had so casually told him. He was a Guide? Was that how he’d ended up with that strange little bond with Reborn? He was a Guide? And Verde was a Sentinel? _His_ Sentinel?

“You just need to put yourself in front of him, call him your Sentinel, and promise him that you’re safe. As long as it’s true, it’ll calm him,” Viper explained simply. They then looked at him seriously. “If you lie, it’ll enrage him further.” Skull laughed, the sound steadier than it had been before.

“Of course I’m safe, Viper,” he told them as he moved to where Viper had indicated. Verde’s snarling had grown softer when Skull had laughed, and his bright green eyes were now fixed on Skull with almost scary intent. But Skull knew Verde, and he knew that the scientist would never hurt him. Even before this whole Sentinel-Guide thing, Verde had always been patient with him, calm and kind in a way he rarely was towards anyone. “I’m with all of you, after all.”

As if taking his words as his cue, Fon released Verde. The scientist was on his feet and in front of Skull in less than a second, wrapping stronger-than-they-looked arms around him and growling towards Reborn’s unconscious body over Skull’s shoulder. Skull sucked in a sharp breath at the resonance that went through him the instant Verde touched him, and lifted his hands to grasp Verde’s face between them. Bright green eyes with almost slit pupils shifted to stare down at him. Skull smiled.

“I’m safe, Sentinel,” he promised Verde. “No one here will harm me.”

“ _He_ did, before,” Verde snarled, eyes flicking past Skull to Reborn again.

“It was never malicious,” Skull refuted, and Verde frowned at him. Skull closed the short gap between them to press their foreheads together, hoping that the extra contact would help ground Verde further. “And he’ll never do it again, my Sentinel.”

“My Guide,” Verde rumbled, and then his nose was pressed against the skin just below the jut of Skull’s jaw. Skull let his arms slide around Verde’s neck, and glanced sideways at Viper. The Mist watched them for a few moments longer, then nodded shortly and used one of their portals to drop Skull and Verde into what looked like one of the isolation rooms in the basement of the mansion.

He turned his full attention on his Sentinel, and sighed in relief when a bond – deeper and _much_ different from the actually tenuous thing he had with Reborn – sprang into existence between them.

Fon rubbed at his ribs absently, making a mental note that Verde was far stronger than his button-ups and lab coats suggested, and then reached out towards his frowning partner.

“What’s wrong, my Guide?” he asked gently, and Viper settled into his embrace with a frustrated sigh.

“Reborn’s got a parent-cub bond with Skull, which we kind of expected, but I have no clue who his Sentinel might be,” Viper grumbled. “He’s not quite as strong as I am, but with practice he’ll give me a run for my money.”

Fon chuckled.

“Can you think of no unbonded Sentinel for whom he’s shown a marked preference?” he asked his Guide lightly, almost teasingly. Viper drew back far enough to frown up at him. Fon just smiled. “Think on it, my love. For now, we should get him into one of the isolation rooms and check on our newly-bonded friends.” He was no Guide, but even he could sense the vibrant bond between Lal Mirch and Colonnello, and the equally robust one starting to form between Verde and Skull.

“Fine,” Viper huffed, and stepped out of his embrace once more. “I’ll get Reborn to a room. But later you’re going to tell me your suspicions,” they added, and Fon inclined his head to his Mist-Guide partner.

“Of course I will.” If Viper didn’t figure it out on their own in the meantime.

As Viper transported Reborn to one of the remaining isolation rooms, Fon spied the glimmer of spirit guides around the room, slowly fading back to the psionic plane. He smiled to himself, and then went to check on Lal and Colonnello.

All those guides were very apt, and Fon could not wait to be introduced to them all.

**Author's Note:**

> For the curious, the spirit guides of each Arcobaleno (and whether they're Sentinel or Guide) is as follows:  
> Fon - Clouded Leopard - Sentinel  
> Viper - spiky bush viper - Guide  
> Skull - peacock - Guide  
> Verde - common marmoset - Sentinel  
> Reborn - western green mamba - Guide  
> Lal Mirch - mute swan - Guide  
> Colonnello - trumpeter swan - Sentinel
> 
> Also, I've headcanoned that their ages when cursed were:  
> Reborn: 33  
> Fon: 32  
> Lal Mirch: 30  
> Colonnello: 28  
> Viper: 27  
> Verde: 24  
> Skull: 19 (a week off 20)


End file.
